


Goodnight

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29261295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: “You won’t be on your own tomorrow night.”“If it wasnae for this weddin’, I wouldnae be on my own tonight.”“It’s not too late to call it off, you know.”The Doctor and Jamie plan a wedding.
Relationships: Second Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> on [tumblr](https://the--highlanders.tumblr.com/post/642456505351897088/goodnight).

“Goodness me.” Wiping the back of one hand over his forehead, the Doctor stared up at the slope ahead of them. “I’m quite sure it wasn’t nearly so steep this morning.”

“That’s ‘cause we were walkin’ down it,” Jamie reminded him, nudging the Doctor’s side with his elbow. When the Doctor glanced up at him, he threw him a grin, smiling wider when he was met with a pointedly wrinkled nose. “It’s no’ that bad.” The gravel path crunched beneath their footsteps as they stepped onto the hill, filling the night air with the noise. Dew had already settled over the ground, lending the little broken pebbles a glossy sheen, and Jamie stared down at them as he walked, placing his feet carefully. The surface might have felt sturdy enough, but he could not shake the feeling that it might slip beneath him at any moment.

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” the Doctor grumbled, “if I hadn’t walked halfway across the city today. Exactly why they didn’t build the florist and the baker next to each other, I will never understand.”

“There _was_ a baker next to the florist. They just didnae have the sort of cake ye wanted.”

“Hmph.” Taking Jamie’s hand, the Doctor pushed himself onwards up the hill with a surprising amount of vigour for someone who had spent the whole walk bemoaning his exhaustion. “It is difficult, isn’t it, planning a wedding. There’s always so many small things to think of.”

Jamie laughed, but nodded along with it. “You’d think we’d be experts by now. How many have we had?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Splaying out his free hand, the Doctor raised the other to tap at his fingers with Jamie’s fist. “Let’s see, one, two – that one on Molticune -”

“The one where they made us look after those funny wee beasties before we could have the weddin’?”

“That’s the one. The one on Polybdenus Major -”

“An’ when we had tae redo the ceremony on Polybdenus Minor.”

“Oh, that one doesn’t count, not when they just wanted to do the paperwork. No, we must have had, ah – four or five, I would say.”

“But we still havenae got the hang of it.”

“Well -” Swinging their joined hands between them, the Doctor shrugged. “Every place is different, you know. Last time we had to bake biscuits for all the guests, do you remember -”

“Aye, an’ we didnae even know them.”

“And this time, it’s – it’s flower arrangements.” The Doctor shook his head. “Far too many flower arrangements.”

“Aye.” And Jamie’s eyes would be watering from all the pollen for days, he was sure of it. Worse still, he would sneeze his way through the ceremony. “Still, it’s done now.”

The Doctor hummed softly in agreement, nodding towards the cluster of buildings set atop the hill as they drew closer. “We’ve had better accommodation for a wedding, I must say.”

The buildings were squat, practical things, hunkered down against the whip of the winter winds. Building them, the Doctor had said, had been a romantic folly – some might even have said idiocy. And they certainly bore the scars of it, the paint all but stripped away from their weathered bricks by biting sleet, the edges of their thick, flat rooves chipped and pitted. “They’re nice enough inside, though,” Jamie pointed out. “An’ the view is worth it. Ye know, lookin’ over the river, an’ all that.”

“Oh, I suppose so.” The Doctor sighed. “Doesn’t make the outside any more pleasant, though.”

The water that had pooled on the rooves after the previous night’s rain was still settled there, dripping from the overhangs and splashing down into puddles on the concrete walkways that ran between the buildings. Jamie picked his way carefully around them, leaning away from the droplets as they fell past him. He kept his arm stretched out to keep a hold of the Doctor’s hand, and they drifted back and forth, towards and away from each other, shaking off the water that fell onto their sleeves. One droplet splashed straight down onto their laced fingers, and they glanced up at each other in unison, lips pressed together to hold back their mutual laughter for a brief moment until they gave in to giggling.

“This is it, isn’t it?” The Doctor was still breathless with laughter, patting at his chest. “Dear, me. Ah – number nine, yes, this is you.” Letting go of Jamie’s hand, he fished a key out of his pocket and fumbled to unlock the door.

“ _Och_.” Kicking at the ground, Jamie shook a few loose pieces of gravel out of the soles of his boots. He nudged them around on the concrete, watching them roll back and forth. “Ye know, I think this is the worst of all the weddin’ traditions we’ve had tae put up with.”

The Doctor made as if to swipe at him, but ended up patting his arm instead. “Hush, you. It’s only for one night. And I’ll be next door.”

“I don’t understand why we cannae share a room, that’s all.”

“Well – well, because we shouldn’t see each other on the morning of the wedding.” Jamie simply pouted, and the Doctor laughed again, clapping his shoulder more forcefully. “You’ll be quite alright.”

“I know I will.” Jamie shook his head. It was entirely irrational, he knew, and yet - “I’ve slept without ye lots of times, if I think about it. When one of us has been off somewhere else. An’ I used tae sleep on my own every night, when I first came tae stay in the TARDIS.”

The Doctor eyed him doubtfully. “Ah – not for particularly long, as I recall.”

“Aye, alright, alright.” Jamie grinned. “So I came tae bother ye soon enough. An’ Polly an’ Ben, too. But it’s _different_ , havin’ tae sleep on my own now, an’ - an’ knowing that you’re just next door.”

“You’ll be quite alright,” the Doctor repeated. “And you won’t be on your own tomorrow night.”

“If it wasnae for this weddin’,” Jamie grumbled, “I wouldnae be on my own tonight.”

“It’s not too late to call it off, you know.”

“No.” Catching the Doctor’s hand as he swung it, Jamie pulled him into a hug. “No, I didnae mean that.”

“Well, good. Because I’m, ah, rather set on seeing those archives.”

Jamie huffed out a chuckle, feeling it rumble against the Doctor’s chest where it pressed against his own. “An’ that’s the only reason you’re gonnae marry me tomorrow?”

“Of course.” The Doctor’s voice hitched, like he was trying to swallow down a chuckle of his own. “It’s quite practical. I just want to see the material they reserve for, ah – for married men.”

“Of course,” Jamie parroted back. “I thought ye weren’t a man.”

“Ah, well – _they_ don’t need to know that, do they?” Swaying from side to side, the Doctor hummed out a vibration of his own. “And it might have been rather awkward if I had to get married to someone else.”

“We couldnae have that.”

“Certainly not.”

Turning his head a little, Jamie pressed a kiss to the Doctor’s temple. “I’ll see ye tomorrow, aye?”

“Yes.” The Doctor bit the inside of his lip like he thought it would hide his smile, but his hands were twisting together behind Jamie’s back. “Tomorrow.” His voice wavered a little, even on the one small word. It might have been anticipation, Jamie supposed – but it sounded more like something else.

“There’s no need tae be nervous,” he said. “We’re already married, ye know.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But every place is different.”

“Aye, ‘spose so.” Pulling away, Jamie shoved open the door to his room, edging as far inside as he could without letting go of the Doctor’s hand. The Doctor had pulled the key to his own door out of his pocket, but was jabbing it towards everything but the keyhole, his eyes still fixed on Jamie. His fingers were tightly closed around Jamie’s own, holding him in place. “Ye have tae let go now, Doctor.”

“Must I?”

“Now who’s bein’ clingy?” Grinning, Jamie squeezed his hand. “Ye don’t want tae yawn all through the weddin’, do ye?”

The Doctor’s hand sprang open, and he pulled it back against his chest, rubbing his palm against it like he was trying to feel the ghost of Jamie’s touch. “Ah – goodnight.” The key was still missing the keyhole, but he simply rocked back and forth on his heels, watching Jamie.

“Goodnight,” Jamie replied, reaching out to touch the Doctor’s wrist. He threw a glance over his shoulder, pointing towards the darkened room. “I’m gonnae -”

“Yes – ah -” At last, the Doctor found the right slot for the key. “Well. Goodnight.”

Jamie laughed again, pulling his own door closed until all he could see was a sliver of the Doctor’s face. “Goodnight.” He realised moments too late tht he had already said it, and snorted out a self-deprecating chuckle. “I mean -”

“Off with you.” Flapping his hand at Jamie, the Doctor vanished through his own door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Aye.” They shoved their hands outside in unison, squeezing them together before pulling their doors entirely closed. “Tomorrow.”


End file.
